Association of adiponectin and leptin with relative telomere length in seven independent cohorts including 11,448 participants

Abstract

Oxidative stress and inflammation are major contributors to accelerated age-related relative telomere length (RTL) shortening. Both conditions are strongly linked to leptin and adiponectin, the most prominent adipocyte-derived protein hormones. As high leptin levels and low levels of adiponectin have been implicated in inflammation, one expects adiponectin to be positively associated with RTL while leptin should be negatively associated. Within the ENGAGE consortium, we investigated the association of RTL with adiponectin and leptin in seven independent cohorts with a total of 11,448 participants. We performed partial correlation analysis on Z-transformed RTL and LN-transformed leptin/adiponectin, adjusting for age and sex. In extended models we adjusted for body mass index (BMI) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Adiponectin showed a borderline significant association with RTL. This appeared to be determined by a single study and when the outlier study was removed, this association disappeared. The association between RTL and leptin was highly significant (r = -0.05; p = 1.81 × 10(-7)). Additional adjustment for BMI or CRP did not change the results. Sex-stratified analysis revealed no difference between men and women. Our study suggests that high leptin levels are associated with short RTL.

A Prospective Study Investigating Prediagnostic Leukocyte Telomere Length and Risk of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis in Women

“…Factors related to socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol intake or BMI also were not correlated with LTL among controls in our study. While LTL has been associated with BMI and/or smoking in some studies 43, 44, 45 , others (including our prior paper) observed nominal or no significant associations 26, 46, 47, 48, 49 . We observed heterogeneity between cohorts for the intermediate LTL category and used random effects meta-analysis to account for this.…”

The Rotterdam Study: 2014 objectives and design update

“…For additional EJE references see [22,26,27,149,[408][409][410][411][412][413][414][415][416][417][418][419][420][421][422][423][424].…”

Ethnic disparities in relationships of obesity indices with telomere length in Asians with type 2 diabetes

“…Previously, ethnic disparities in high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP), adiponectin, and insulin resistance (IR) in the local population in Singapore were reported and, interestingly, an increase in body mass index (BMI) was associated with a greater change in hs‐CRP, adiponectin, and IR in Chinese individuals compared with Malays and Indians . Telomere length is inversely associated with BMI and the development of IR, and positively correlated with adiponectin levels . Although ethnic disparities in telomere length have been shown in non‐Asian populations, little is known of ethnic disparities in telomere length in a multiethnic Asian population.…”

“…15,16 Telomere length is inversely associated with BMI and the development of IR, and positively correlated with adiponectin levels. [17][18][19] Although ethnic disparities in telomere length have been shown in non-Asian populations, little is known of ethnic disparities in telomere length in a multiethnic Asian population. Moreover, the effects of changes in adiposity on telomere length in an Asian population with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are unknown.…”